The Royal Academy of Arts, London (RA), has stated its strengthened commitment to helping facilitate professional development within the arts industry in Hong Kong through reciprocal education programmes and on-going creative dialogue with Hong Kong’s arts community. Following the success of the pilot programme for professional development for Hong Kong arts administrators, launched in May, continued placements are being discussed, organised in partnership with the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government.

Mr Ka-Lun Ng, Curator of Modern Art at the Hong Kong Museum of Art, was selected as the first participant for the pilot programme in May and benefited from an intense and specially tailored month-long programme at the Royal Academy in June this year.

The placement saw Mr Ka-Lun Ng gaining experience in many different departments at the RA, including the Collections, Learning and Exhibitions departments, the Library and Archive and Royal Academy Schools. Mr Ka-Lun Ng spent time working in close partnership with the Buildings and Estates department at the RA in order to gain an understanding of the management of the capital development projects currently underway, including the redevelopment of Keepers House which opens this year.

Mr Ka-Lun Ng said: "This has been a very valuable opportunity to explore the internal workings of a major art organisation and exchange ideas with their team. I have learnt a lot from them about their management of extensive capital redevelopment which is helpful for our planning of the Hong Kong Museum of Art’s endeavours to improve our facilities.”

Christopher Le Brun, President of the Royal Academy of Arts, said: “We are delighted with the success of the pilot scheme. Valuable mutual learnings were gained and we hope that the programme will have a lasting legacy for the two institutions and that it is the start of a strong relationship. We look forward to continuing to contribute to the growing and dynamic cultural dialogue in Hong Kong. The RA is run by artists and teaches the artists of the future, and we are always interested in learning more about what is happening globally and building relationships through arts education.”

The Chief Secretary for Administration Carrie Lam said: “We are pleased to learn that the Royal Academy of Arts is interested in further collaboration with us on the area of cross-cultural exchange of expertise and shared practices with regard to museum professionals. We welcome opportunities to further our collaboration with the Academy to enrich the experience of our talents in this area.”

The professional development programme builds on recent activities by the Royal Academy of Arts in the city, including the organisation of a series of high profile artists’ talks and collaborations in Hong Kong, increasing access for audiences in the city through public events to major international artists Zhang Huan and Mariko Mori. The President of the RA and Chief Executive of the RA have also engaged in a series of educational talks, at the Hong Kong Design Institute last autumn and a workshop with a group of 14-17 year old students for Project WeCan in May this year. Activity across Asia has included a postgraduate student exchange with Geidei University in Tokyo and Encounter: The Royal Academy in Asia, a major exhibition featuring works by 25 Royal Academicians and 25 prominent artists from across Asia which opened at the Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore last September, and at the Middle East Katara Cultural Village, in Doha, Qatar in Dece mber. The show will travel to Moscow next year.

The Royal Academy of Arts was founded by George III in 1768. It has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to be a clear, strong voice for art and artists.  Its public programme promotes the creation, enjoyment and appreciation of the visual arts through exhibitions, education and debate.